Just A Little More Time
by NameForsaken
Summary: "It wasn't supposed to happen this way..." SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS EVENTS FROM VOLUME 5, CHAPTER 11! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! (Very vaguely implied Freezerburn, I guess?)


" _Weiss! Weiss, can you hear me?"_

"Uh...uhn?"

" _She's coming to!"_

" _Stand back, I got her!"_

"Wh—what?"

Weiss's head felt as though it'd been held under any icy pool of water, her temples numb and her mind fuzzy as she slowly opened her eyes. At first, all she could see was a blinding, bright yellow light, burning her pupils and instantly bringing tears to the corners of her eyes. She tried to move, tried to strain her neck, tried to feel _anything_ , but nothing would budge. Her body was stiff, motionless, and almost completely numb except for a sharp, cool pain stabbing through the bottom of her ribcage. She felt as though she had just been impaled by a thousand icicles.

 _Am I dreaming?_ she wondered to herself as her heavy eyelids began to close once more, her head spinning as she tried to place her surroundings.

" _Hey, stay with me! W-weiss? Weiss!"_

" _It's okay—she probably just needs some rest. Give her some space."_

Whose voices were those? They all sounded distant, distorted, as though they were coming in on some sort of muffled radio frequency. She tried to place them, but they felt just as disconnected as her own limbs, as her own thoughts. She tried to think back, to remember what had just happened, but when she tried to picture herself, her surroundings, she came up with _nothing_.

" _He's coming back! You need to get her out of here!"_

" _But what about—?"_

" _You don't have the strength to fight her. Just take Weiss somewhere,_ _ **anywhere**_ _but here!"_

There was no way she was dreaming. All of this felt… too real. She tried to open her eyes again, but this time, her eyelids wouldn't budge. The tears still pricked her eyes, however, and they were about the only thing she could feel as they trickled down her cheeks. But why was she crying in the first place? Everything felt so… so _wrong_.

" _Hang in there, Weiss, you're going to be okay."_

Suddenly, she felt herself become lighter, as though she were being lifted, carried away. And then all of her senses came flooding back. Suddenly, the cool numbness felt like fire, burning away at her core. Her torso was twisted, aching, _screaming_ as a hand reached up to cradle her closely, the muffled voices replaced by the sounds of metal clashing with metal, painful grunts and cries all around her as a battle raged on.

"I-ii...it _hurts_ ," she mumbled, the tears still streaming as she nuzzled closer to whoever was carrying her. She just wanted something, _anything_ to stop this pain.

"I know, I know," her captor said, the voice clearer this time, ragged and frantic. "But you're going to be okay! We just gotta…we gotta find somewhere safe!"

Weiss tried one last time to open her eyes, and finally, her eyelids fluttered, inching open slowly as she peered up into the worried, deep blue gaze of the boy holding her. "J-Jaune?"

His eyes widened at his name, and he tried his best to muster a smile. "Yeah, it's me. Cinder, she—she hurt you, pretty badly, but you're going to be okay."

She furrowed her eyebrows, her head pulsing the longer she kept her eyes open, but she forced herself to endure the pain, reminding herself that she had been through much worse. "You keep saying that… W-what happened?"

Jaune moved his gaze from Weiss's, his eyes darting around the room frantically as he searched for any opening away from the rest of the fights. The sound of a gun went off just a few feet away, and Jaune dodged unexpectedly, causing Weiss to flinch as her ribcage folded inward toward Jaune's chest, sending another jolt of pain through her torso as it collided with his rough armor.

" _Stay away from her!"_ shouted another familiar voice, this one angrier, more passionate, followed by the sounds of multiple rounds of Ember Celica being fired away. "Jaune! Over by the stairs!"

Weiss turned her gaze toward Yang's voice, catching a glimpse of the blonde brawler dodging a kick as Mercury tried to catch her off-guard. She grabbed his ankle with her cybernetic arm at the last minute, driving Ember Celica directly into his thigh where his prosthetic was attached, and she quickly let off another round.

"Aaaaarrggh!" he screamed in pain as he fell to the floor, his ankle still in Yang's grasp as she bent over him. Jaune started to move again, taking Weiss with him as he moved toward the staircase by Haven's podium. She kept her eyes trained on Yang even as she was being carried away, watching as her teammate twisted and tugged at the boy's prosthetic.

As soon as they were safe—well, as safe as they could be under their current circumstances—Jaune set Weiss carefully on the floor, and removed the pink scarf that was tied around his waist. He glanced down at it sadly, his own eyes beginning to well with tears as he bunched it up into a pillow-sized ball, and gently tucked it underneath Weiss's head.

"This is all my fault," he whispered, his voice cracking as he knelt at Weiss's side, fists clenched into his lap. "I shouldn't have jumped in like that, not against _her_."

Weiss tried to lift her head, but he moved his hand, gesturing for her to stay put.

"You need to rest. I'm not sure how much help my—my Semblance was… _If_ that was even my Semblance…"

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

He sighed, rocking back on his heels as he dropped beside Weiss, glancing out across the ballroom-turned-battleground. "I saw you go down, and tried to move as fast I could. Yang got to you first, but… but _something_ happened. This _light_ started pouring out of me… Not like whatever the hell Ruby's eyes did, but it was my Aura, I could _feel_ it… Then I remembered what Pyrrha told me back during Initiation about my Aura, about how I had a lot of it… I thought if I could share some of it like she shared hers with me…"

Weiss drew in a deep, shaky breath. "Jaune, you're not making any sense…"

He shook his head. "No, I know, but I'm telling you, _something_ happened! When that light started pouring out, I had to _try_. I didn't know what it was going to do, but Yang told me try, so I did. I placed them over your wounds, and next thing I know, they're not visible. And then you started to stir, and Yang tried to get you to respond."

She blinked, trying to process this new information, but it just… _it didn't make sense_. Jaune's… _Semblance?_ His hands _lit up_ , and then suddenly her wounds just… disappeared? But they didn't feel like they did… She could still feel the pain, still feel her ribs cracked and bruised inside. She lifted a hand to her torso, trying to find an opening, but much to her surprise, she felt _nothing_.

"I don't know how much it helped," he reiterated. "I don't know how this is supposed to work. I just… I just know that you need to rest. And we need to get out of here. And _this…_ whatever _this_ is needs to end!"

Weiss followed his gaze back out toward the battleground, Ren and Nora still attacking the big, burly man who refused to fight back. Mercury had managed to break free of Yang's hold, but he was now one prosthetic short, crawling backward and shooting at Yang with his one intact boot as she advanced toward him, beating him with his own leg. Vernal had joined Raven, both of them trying to throw Qrow off his game, and in the center of it all, Emerald had a vulnerable Ruby restrained with her chains, Cinder advancing toward her with flames burning out of her eyes.

Jaune's eyes narrowed as he bore his gaze into Cinder's evil glare, his fists clenching again as he lifted himself up to one knee. He reached into his sheath for his sword, stabbing it into the ground as he pushed himself up to his feet. "I _can't_ let her get away with this…"

"Wait!" Weiss shouted, reaching weakly for his elbow, and using what little strength she had to pull him back down. "You can't… It's a deathwish."

"I don't care," he muttered coldly, yanking his arm away from Weiss. "I'm _not_ letting her hurt another one of my friends."

He moved forward, pulling his sword out of the floor, and hoisting it high over his shoulder. Weiss began to panic as she frantically searched the battleground, looking for _anyone_ to come in and back him up. There was _no_ way he'd be able to take on Cinder alone, much less Emerald. She needed to buy him time, but how…? She had no strength left, no weapon, no Aura…

But it was becoming increasingly clear that Mercury wasn't going to win this fight against Yang. Maybe, just _maybe_ , if Jaune had some help, they could free Ruby…

"YANG!"

The blonde glanced over at the sound of Weiss's voice, blocking another shot from Mercury as she kicked him in the side. Her gaze followed Weiss's to Jaune, who was advancing quickly toward Cinder, now, a sick grin creeping across the woman's face as she readied herself to take him on once more. Then, her gaze moved to Ruby, who was just beginning to stir again, Emerald giving her a shove and causing the small brunette to lurch forward.

"RUBY!"

Yang's eyes went red as she kicked Mercury in the head, knocking him unconscious before she dropped his prosthetic and ran to Jaune's aid.

Weiss sucked in a deep breath, leaning her head back as she closed her eyes once more. _It wasn't supposed to happen this way…_ she thought helplessly, tears returning to her eyes as she tried to shake the pit of devastation that began to form in her stomach. If only her Aura would heal faster, she could get back up and fight…

She'd made a promise to Yang. She'd promised her she would be there for here, but she'd almost gotten herself killed just now, and there was no way she could rejoin the fight, not in her current condition. How was she supposed to keep that promise to Yang now? How was she supposed to keep the promise to _Ruby_ , to be the best teammate she could possibly be, to fight in the name of Team RWBY?

 _And where the hell was Blake when they truly needed her…?_

Everything was wrong. It was _so_ wrong.

But at least she was still alive. At least there was that. And as long as she had her friends around her, continuing to fight, continuing to race to her side when she needed them, she was going to do her best… do her best to get better, to find her strength, to return the favor. To keep her friends, her _family_ , safe.

 _Just a little more time..._


End file.
